Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday said in the coming Punjab Assembly polls early next year, the SAD will repeat the performance of Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal.

Addressing a massive gathering in Sujanpur (Pathankot), Badal said Punjabis will not let “outsiders” govern them and will impose trust in the SAD which represents regional aspirations.

“Just like Mamata Banerjee was successful in West Bengal, we will also defeat all the three forces pitted against us to emerge victorious in 2022,” the SAD chief said.

He said the SAD was the only party of Punjabis and would defeat all the three governments it was pitted against be it the Central government led Bharatiya Janata Party, Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government, or the Congress-led Punjab government.

Badal said empty chairs at events being presided over by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi were a testament to the popularity of both Channi and the Congress party. “The countdown of the Congress has started and so has their frustration due to which you are witnessing the infighting in the party. This will lead to the self-destruction of the Congress party in the coming days”, he said.

The SAD president said AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal should tell Punjabis why he had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court to close down four thermal plants situated in Punjab. He said the AAP government had similarly filed affidavits demanding criminal cases be registered against farmers of Punjab for burning the stubble residue.

“Kejriwal also stands for handing over the river waters of Punjab to Haryana and Delhi,” Badal said. He said even the current drama being enacted by Kejriwal promising Rs 1,000 per month to all women of the State had not cut ice in Punjab.

“Punjabis are asking why not one woman in Delhi has received Rs 1,000 per month till now. Similarly, while Kejriwal was talking about regularising all contractual employees in Punjab, his government had not regularised 10,000 contractual employees of Delhi since years,” the SAD chief said.

He said the SAD would never ask Punjabis to fill forms like the Congress had done earlier or the AAP was doing now.

“We have always stood by all commitments made in our election manifesto. Be it giving free power to farmers or introducing novel social welfare schemes like the Shagun scheme and the Aata-Daal scheme, all were done immediately after government formation,” he added.